Recently it was great to meet up once again with members of the Kyoto Push Hands Group and practice some free push hands. This group Gabriel Johnson (push hands partner in this pic) and myself were instrumental in getting together back in the early 2000s. Back then we would organize various Taiji groups around Osaka and Kyoto to meet up one Sunday a month and get the opportunity to do some free push hands with each other. This was purely non-profit and gave us wonderful access to Taiji practitioners (both men and women) from different schools to test our skills and broaden our experience. All sorts of people used to regularly attend, some were very skilled and serious about their Taiji, some were beginners or advanced in different martial arts. But everyone was interested in applying their skills in this non-violent semi-structured way. Even after all this time, most of the faces were very familiar and I am proud that what we created has been a sustainable form of "community development" something where no one person owns or controls and the meet survives because of opportunities and benefits it gives to the members.
On this last get together what impressed me was how some of the regular members had improved in their push hands skills and how this group had attracted other people who were quite advanced in their Taijiquan. I say this because I remember the different phases of growth this loose gathering of people had gone through. There were immature phases when people relied on brute force, were unfriendly, secretive and egotistical about their push hands until someone would show them a better way, then those who were smart and serious enough would learn and adapt more in line with the true principles of Taiji. There were times when you'd have to walk away from the group for awhile so as not to develop the bad habits brute force encourages - the bad postures, the tension, the aggressive intent on dominating, resistance to yielding & receiving etc... What was great this last time was how soft some had become & consequently have improved their ability to listen and interpret, and of course how good they had become in trapping you.
What it's made me realise is that I miss this type of free hand pushing practice so if anybody (not only Taiji practitioners) with a similar harmonious, cooperative mindset living in the South Brisbane, Gold Coast, Tamborine Mountain area who wants to practice Taiji's soft-self defense skills in this semi-structured, non-aggressive and safe way, please contact me and we can arrange a regular group meetup to do some pushing hands. This isn't a formal lesson nor promotion and taken in the right way can give great benefits, learning and enjoyment. Email me at - [email protected]
Lee Chang Tye
www.relaxedmindtaichi.com
On this last get together what impressed me was how some of the regular members had improved in their push hands skills and how this group had attracted other people who were quite advanced in their Taijiquan. I say this because I remember the different phases of growth this loose gathering of people had gone through. There were immature phases when people relied on brute force, were unfriendly, secretive and egotistical about their push hands until someone would show them a better way, then those who were smart and serious enough would learn and adapt more in line with the true principles of Taiji. There were times when you'd have to walk away from the group for awhile so as not to develop the bad habits brute force encourages - the bad postures, the tension, the aggressive intent on dominating, resistance to yielding & receiving etc... What was great this last time was how soft some had become & consequently have improved their ability to listen and interpret, and of course how good they had become in trapping you.
What it's made me realise is that I miss this type of free hand pushing practice so if anybody (not only Taiji practitioners) with a similar harmonious, cooperative mindset living in the South Brisbane, Gold Coast, Tamborine Mountain area who wants to practice Taiji's soft-self defense skills in this semi-structured, non-aggressive and safe way, please contact me and we can arrange a regular group meetup to do some pushing hands. This isn't a formal lesson nor promotion and taken in the right way can give great benefits, learning and enjoyment. Email me at - [email protected]
Lee Chang Tye
www.relaxedmindtaichi.com
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